ABC News host George Stephanopoulos remained tight-lipped on one of the top news stories over the weekend.
Stephanopoulos did not mention his and ABC’s settlement with President-elect Donald Trump when he took to the airwaves Sunday for “This Week,” per a report on Fox News.
ABC News and Stephanopoulos settled the defamation lawsuit brought by Trump.
A settlement would likely save the defendants a costly trial.
But the settlement was still costly as ABC News will pay $15 million in the form of a charitable donation to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.” Trump’s attorney fees of $1 million will be paid by the network.
On “This Week,” the news of the settlement was not mentioned in lieu of stories regarding unidentified drones over New Jersey, ongoing conflicts in Syria and Trump’s cabinet picks.
Stephanopoulos was also silent on X, formerly Twitter, as he deleted his account over the weekend.
The lawsuit came about after Stephanopoulos said Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in March.
During the interview, a clip of Mace talking about being a rape victimwas played. Stephanopoulos then asked Mace, “How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”
“You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” Stephanopoulos said, referring to Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll.
Stephanopoulos repeated the same scenario 10 times during the interview.
However, a jury found Trump was liable for “sexual abuse,” not rape.
Later, Stephanopoulos said he would not be “cowed out of doing my job because of a threat.”
“Trump sued me because I used the word ‘rape,’ even though a judge said that’s in fact what did happen. We filed a motion to dismiss,” Stephanopoulos said in an interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert.
In addition to the money payout, Stephanopoulos and ABC News issues statements of “regret” as an editor’s note added to the bottom of a March 10, 2024, online article.
“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024,” per the note.
A spokesperson for ABC said the network was happy an agreement was reached.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an ABC News spokesperson said to Fox News Digital.
